I only spoke to the doctor briefly but my level dropped to 24 which is considered deficient. The last time I was tested it was 44 and in retrospect, I realize I could have (perhaps SHOULD have) pushed it higher but I was cautious because I'd been taking approximately 4,000 IUs for about 8 months and it does have a tendency to build up so.... At any rate, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to go about pursuing this. I have to get my bone density test done before we talk about a solution. My endocrinologist is more concerned about D deficiency because of bone health but obviously, there are other things on my mind.

Barb, glad you're getting retested -- look how I changed in a year doing the same dose! Sally (and others) please get tested! I know now I'll be getting this test every year and because of these current results, my next one will be in 4-6 months.

I should have made it clearer in my initial post that the research I did about vitamin D was specifically in relation to MS; that it's been theorized that it can be potentially helpful to those with this disease. D is an immune system modulator so it's needed to help it function properly. Other more recent things I've read about D and MS have to do with maintaining and possibly even having therapeutic value to the CNS.

Keri, that is very interesting about the HiCy type procedure in Chicago using D. If you find out more about it, would you please post?

DM, yes, a deficiency can cause a variety of sx including fatigue, depression, weight gain and more and it can also affect neurological functioning. It can also cause a susceptibility to various illnesses and I was interested to read an article yesterday about low D and respiratory illnesses since I am prone to sinusitis. The form of D you are taking is D2 -- the preferred form is actually D3 (cholecalciferol) -- it is absorbed better and is the more natural form (D3 is what you get from sunlight). The 50,000 prescription dose is always D2 though -- not sure what the deal is with this; if it's just because that's the only way it's available or if it's for another reason.

To Keri, Dejibo and anyone else who can't seem to raise their D level, it could be a malabsorption problem -- my doctor mentioned this to me today. If things don't improve I am going to have to travel down that road to figure out what's going on. In the meantime, I increased my intake to 5,000 IUs starting yesterday, with my endocrinologist's permission.

I have a lot of info. but here are just some random articles about D, including information about the proper test (like B12, not all testing methods are created equal).

I don't claim to be an expert, just a person with MS who thinks there's something to all the chatter about MS and vitamin D and has done a lot of research. To those of you who supplement with over the counter D, it should be D3 -- you should always tell your doctor you're doing it and get blood work done to test levels on a fairly regular basis as well as testing liver function. D is not expelled through urine so it can build up in the body and cause damage. (My doctor tests kidney function as well but I'm not 100% sure that's because of taking D or something else.)

http://labtestsonline.org/understand..._d/sample.html

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/healt...eficient.shtml (there's a lot of info. on this site, including something about MS but frustratingly, they don't have a built-in search function -- you can also subscribe to their newsletter.)

http://www.womentowomen.com/nutritio...treatment.aspx

http://courses.washington.edu/bonephys/opvitD.html

http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnut...-d-safety.html

In case anyone is interested, here's the article about vitamin D and respiratory infections from February '09 -- the only way to access the link is from the search engine so it's a Google result:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...88670&aq=f&oq=